Topical tacrolimus: an effective therapy for facial psoriasis

We evaluated twenty-one cases of facial psoriasis lesions treated with topical tacrolimus ointment. Patients were 15 males and 6 females with a mean age of 51.1 years old. Mean duration of the disease was 10.1 years. 0.1% tacrolimus ointment was applied twice a day for 4 weeks without occlusion. A complete or good response was obtained in 10 (47.6%) and 9 (42.9%) patients, respectively. The mean score of erythema decreased from 1.76 to 0.62, that of infiltration decreased from 1.33 to 0.43, and that of desquamation decreased from 0.95 to 0.24, respectively. These data demonstrate that topical tacrolimus is effective for facial lesions of psoriasis without occlusion. We conclude that topical tacrolimus is an effective treatment for facial psoriasis.